WINE CLUB NEWS
AHLGREN
VINEYARD
Founded
1976
WINE CLUB NEWS
Spring 2007
Spring News (PDF)
The latest
Wine Club tasting selections are:
2004
AHLGREN Semillon
Livermore
Valley
2003
AHLGREN Pinot Noir
Santa Cruz
Mountains
2003
AHLGREN Cabernet Sauvignon
Santa
Cruz Mountains, Bates’ Ranch
2004 AHLGREN Semillon
Livermore
Valley
Ahlgren Semillon continues to find
favor as the versatile white wine enjoyable as an apperatif before
meals, and also with shellfish, curries, spicy Asian food, and so on. It
is hard to imagine a better wine/food match than Ahlgren Semillon with
oysters or Dungeness crab, two of our special favorites.
Many have never even heard of
Semillon, even though it is ranked as one of the five noble grapes of
France, and is reputed to be the most planted variety there. It forms
the base wine for the great wines of Sauternes and is the premier white
wine of Bordeaux.
Although Semillon is sometimes
thought of, and made, as a sweet wine, at Ahlgren it is fermented to
dryness in barrels, and then aged on the lees, developing its complex,
distinguishing character. The lees are what falls to the bottom of the
barrel when the yeast has completed its work. The French call aging on
the lees, aging sur lees, and
the we use this method for both of our whites, Semillon and Chardonnay.
When the aging is complete, the wine is gently pumped from the barrel
and prepared for bottling, leaving the lees behind.
There are those who tell us they neither like nor drink white
wines, except that they do like Ahlgren Semillon. We think it is the
complexity and character of our Semillon that appeals to palates that
might otherwise favor the reds.
This particular vintage has given us a wine with a bright, flowery
bouquet and classic Semillon flavors with a hint of pear. It is crisp,
dry, complex, balanced and mouth filling. It can stand alone as a wine
to sip, and yet joins with food in a way that truly enhances the meal.
And remember, Semillon ages beautifully for many years. Serve lightly
chilled. This 2004 is currently released only to the Wine Club. Barrel
fermented. Aged on the lees. Unfiltered. 181 cases produced.
$16.50 per bottle
Club Member price per
bottle-10% $14.85
Club Member
12 bottle price-15% $13.70
2003
AHLGREN Pinot Noir
Santa Cruz Mountains
The last Wine Club shipment brought you the 2004
Ahlgren Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains. Now, here comes the 2003! What
gives? Well, we just thought it would be interesting to show you this
wine with an extra year of bottle age. Again, this is a very limited
production, essentially reserved for Wine Club Members.
Typical of Ahlgren Pinots, you will find that
they respond enthusiastically, if a wine can possibly show enthusiasm,
when decanted and given air.
Fragrant, rich floral bouquet. Violets? Dark in
color with deep Pinot flavors. Mouth filling. Elegant and balanced. Aged
in French oak barrels.
Unfined and unfiltered. A mere 46 cases produced.
$35.00 per bottle
Club Member price per bottle - 10%
$31.50
Club Member 12 bottle price - 15%
$29.75
2003 AHLGREN Cabernet Sauvignon
Santa
Cruz Mountains, Bates’ Ranch
The Ahlgren Santa Cruz Mountains, Bates’ Ranch Cabernet continues to
impress. The 2003 is reminiscent of the 2001 and 2002, but somewhat
richer, deeper, a bit more intense and definitely delicious. The only
problem the Ahlgrens have with this wine is keeping it in stock.
274cases produced.
$30.00 per bottle
Club Member price per bottle - 10% $27.00
Club Member 12 bottle price - 15% $25.50
THE
RANT ON DECANT CONTINUES:
(This
is a repeat, for the benefit of the new Wine Club Members.)
We keep hearing
from Wine Club Members who are subjected to our continuing admonitions
promoting decanting, and they report delight and surprise with the
results of their decanting experience. That duplicates ours: wines are
elevated to a new level of quality, resulting in new and added pleasure
to the palate. So, we say again, please do yourselves the favor of
decanting. If you do not have a handy decanter, but you do have a steady
hand or a funnel, simply decant into a clean wine bottle, a pitcher, or
even a Mason jar. If you cannot decant, at least pull the corks and put
the reds in a place where they can gently come up to room temperature.
We are
reminded every time we open a bottle of our red wines, taste, and then
decant, and then taste again, that all Ahlgren reds, and most especially
Pinot Noirs, respond dramatically to decanting.
So, be
advised: These red wines will reward you well, if you make certain the
temperature is about 65º or, roughly room temperature. Heed not our
advice on warming and airing, and you will still have a very satisfying
experience, but something even finer awaits you in these well-structured
red wines. Young or old, they have been closed away in the bottle for
many months or many years. Give’em air!
OLD
NEWS!
We have recently celebrated a significant family birthday, and as part
of the festivities, not all in one sitting, we opened some older wines.
Here is our report:
1976
Ahlgren, Chardonnay, Ventana Vineyards:
The fill was very low, down about two inches and the cork was wet and
just slid out. The wine still had good color, but the flavor was not
terrific.
1977 Ahlgren, Chardonnay, Ventana Vineyards:
Fill about
as low as that of the ’76, color just fine, flavors delicious!!. This
may have been the last bottle. We will be searching for another. With
the fills this low, there is no sense in keeping them any longer. Thirty
years for a Chardonnay? Amazing!
1979 Ahlgren Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Rutherford,
Adamson/ Tupper Vineyard:
This vineyard was
once a favorite of ours. At one point, we were advised that Joe Heitz
told the owner he would no longer buy any of the grapes unless he got
them all, so Ahlgren was cut out. Sometime later, the vineyard was sold
to El Molino, and we are told the vines were pulled and replaced with
Pinot Noir. A sad act, we would say.
Anyway, ’79 was not a vintage we liked much at the time. The grapes did
not reach the full maturity we really wanted, and the alcohol was only
12.3%, a little light for a Napa Cab. The label description says,
“…elegant … claret style, reflecting the character of the vintage…”
Well, the wine has outgrown its somewhat wimpy beginnings and is full
and deeply flavored. A very pleasant surprise. The cork did not
cooperate and pretty much crumbled, the wine was just lovely.
1978 Ahlgren, Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford,
Adamson/Tupper Vineyard.
This wine was terrific as well. It has a luminous history, winning a
series of tastings of sixty four California Cabernets conducted back
East over a number of weeks in flights of eight wines. It then went on
to a wine tasting of the top eight of the original sixty four Cal wines
with eight French Bordeaux of similar prices. The dollar was very high
then, and the French selections included such names as Beychevelle, and
Leoville-Las-Cases. Ahlgren won over all the French and over the other
seven California Cabs as well, which included: William Hill, Cakebread,
Shafer. The magic of this tasting was that Terry Robards had been
invited. He was then the wine writer for the New York Times, and he
wrote up the tasting. (We are enclosing a copy of the article.)
1978, Ahlgren Zinfandel, Livermore:
We were impressed
that a Zin would hold up so well. It was delicious, good color, much
enjoyed.
We have more of the ’76 Chardonnay, each bottle of which has a low
fill, as did the one we tasted and commented on above. So, we will just
have to open them and check them out. There are also older Bates’ to be
tasted. Work, work, work!!
ADDITIONAL WINES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE :
We have begun holding back some wines to have them for sale at the
winery and for Wine Club members, rather than just selling them out
through restaurants and stores, leaving ourselves the first to run out.
So, you will find a nice selection of slightly older vintages, limited
quantities, some unavailable elsewhere.
2000 AHLGREN
Syrah Ventana
Special
price on this lovely Syrah: $15 per bottle, or $180 per case.
(No additional
discounts on this wine
Other wines
available:
2001 AHLGREN
Semillon, Livermore
$16.50
A lovely,
refreshing wine for summer.
2002 AHLGREN
Semillon, Livermore
$16.50
Ditto
2001 AHLGREN
Pinot Noir, Ventana
$25.00
Elegant
wine with good bottle age.
2004 AHLGREN Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz
Mountains $35.00
2001 AHLGREN Cab.Sauv. Bates’ (6
bottle limit)
$45.00
2001 AHLGREN Cab. Sauv. Bates’,
Reserve $65.00
Non-Vintage AHLGREN Zin, Central Coast
$17.00
An
exceptional buy, good Zin character, fine food Zin.
2003 AHLGREN
Zin, Livermore
$26.00
That crazy, delicious 17.3%, fruity, huge
and hugely popular
Zin
beloved by those with palates to match its might.
ADVENTURES AT AHLGREN VINEYARD:
The Black Phoebes are back for their annual stay at Ahlgren Vineyard,
catching flies, roosting on the antennae of the car, and raising babies.
Yesterday, Val heard the call of the Red Shouldered Hawk and looked up
to see him soaring over the vineyard, searching, it is to be hoped, for
gophers. The madrones are just finishing bloomming, and much appreciated
by the hummingbirds, who, even with all the blossoms, are consuming two
liters of sugar water every day from the feeders. The little fruit trees
are bearing good crops so far this year. Last year’s spring rains came
just at bloom time, and so there was little fruit. The grapes bloom
later, tiny clusters of blossoms are just now beginning to open. The
pears, peaches, plums and apples are sporting fruit the size of walnuts
already, and for the first time, we actually got some cherries, there
having been enough for us and the birds too. All of this productivity
bodes well for the grape vintage.
Although still behind in garden work due to the month’s vacation,
Val has set out her tomato plants, anticipating those incredible flavors
that come out of that garden.
The rains of this winter were a relatively
meager 46 inches. Meager indeed, when compared to the 112 inches of last
year, but in these Santa Cruz Mountains, even a low rainfall year can
add up to a reasonable amount. It seems to us that winter rains tend to
run in three year cycles: one year very wet, and two years not so wet,
or maybe two years wet and one drier. We are always looking forward to
see what comes next.
Notes from the travelers:
What a vacation it was! Four and a half weeks
in France! Perfect until the last day when, somewhere between rigorous
security searches and walking up to the Air France departure counter,
Dexter lost his passport, wallet, and boarding pass. The next 24 hours
were filled with taxi rides to and from Paris to the U.S. Consulate,
providing a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, and a ride through the Place de
la Concorde, and giving rise to many memories of our first European trip
in 1961.
Paris taxi drivers are in a class by themselves, and very proud of
their skills and bravado. Entertainment tax should be charged. Passing
on the right on freeway ramps is but one example of an exciting Paris
taxi experience. So, we did get the new documents and tickets, got on
the plane, and ultimately arrived home.
Upon arriving in France, we picked up a spiffy little Peugot and
set out from the infamous Charles de Gaulle airport. If Charles the man
was difficult, the airport is a fitting namesake. Fresh off the plane,
and not feeling fresh at all, considering lack of sleep, but feeling
fine enough, running on adrenaline, we confidently entered the stream of
freeway traffic headed for Chartes, not far away, where we would get a
hotel, see the cathedral, get some sleep, and then head out the next
morning for the Normandy coast.
Great plan, but we could not have known that: 1) It would take us
much longer to acclimate ourselves to the mysteries of the labyrinth of
the freeway system, and 2) that by the time we finally arrived in
Chartes, we would discover that a big seminar on the cathedral was under
way, and there were no hotel rooms in town. (Traveling of-season, we
never make reservations, and very rarely have had a problem, so we did
not take it all to seriously.) We realized that we had to get out of the
fully booked city to find a place to stay, so we headed over the bridge
to a neighboring town, but could not even find a hotel, let alone a
room. We found ourselves wandering around aimlessly, in the dark,
without a clue.
Finally, we spotted a pharmacy with its big green neon cross, and
deciding that someone there probably spoke English, Val went in and
quietly said, “We are lost.” The clerk, non-English speaking, motioned
for someone from the office behind the counter to please come out. That
is when we met Alex, tall, handsome, cheerful, an experienced speaker of
English and traveler of California, probably an angel down here to do
good works. I explained that we could not find a hotel room, it was
getting late, and that we had not slept for over 24 hours. He asked a
couple of questions about what we were looking for. It boiled down to,
“a bed!” Following his directions to follow him, he drove his BMW
station wagon for about 20 minutes, winding through the town with us
behind to an area where a new hotel had just opened two weeks before. He
went in to check for us to see if a room was available, and one was. We
happily thanked him, and gave him his pick of one of the Ahlgren wines
we had brought along as gifts. Wisely, he chose a Bates’ Cab. He left
with the promise that he would come to visit us at the winery when he
was next in California.
The hotel looked pretty basic from the outside, something like a
Motel 6 with a McDonald’s next door and a freeway interchange very
nearby. We checked in, made our way upstairs with the suitcases to an
immaculate room and then went back down to the dining room for dinner,
wondering if we were at a French Dennies. Val ordered the special, which
was venison with raspberry sauce; Dexter, salmon with a cream sauce.
Long story short… one of the best meals we had in France! And the young
couples and chef running the place were friendly and delightful.
The next day we were back in Chartes to see the cathedral. Lucky
for us they were having a service, and we had the enormous pleasure of
hearing the chants and the music, watching the ageless rituals in this
venerable place. A wonderful experience. Acoustics in a big, old stone
cathedral are to be absorbed, impossible to imagine or describe. It was
a dark and dreary day, so the light from the incredible stained glass
windows was subdued, but still most remarkable.
Then, off to Normandy. It was an adventurous beginning to a
wonderful trip that wove through France for nearly 5,000 kilometers and
included a week’s stay in an old stone cottage in the village of St.
Romain, Burgundy with Kay and Bob Roudon, retired now from Roudon/Smith
winery and living in Nice.
REFLECTIONS ON THE
SOCCA RECIPE:
In
the
last edition of the Wine Club News, we included a recipe for Socca, “A
Street Treat from Nice.” Soon afterwards, we had company and Val
proceeded with the Socca. She baked it in the oven while chatting with
guests, not paying enough attention to the baking, and it was pretty
much an overdone disaster. While composing mental apologies to you all
during the next few days, preparing for this edition, she received an
email from a Club Member in Michigan relating a drive home from work on
a snowy, icy night in a steamy car, deciding that they needed a very
special dinner to restore their spirits. They made the Socca, and it
turned out to be delicious! They were reporting in with delight at the
success of the recipe. So, Val has to try again. Hopefully, none of you
had the bad luck she did.
She is working on a gallete recipe, something
we had in Vannes, in Brittany, which turned out to be a very favorite
dish. You will need buckwheat flour, so if you are interested in trying
gallete, pick up some of the flour. There are recipes on the internet.
Let her know if you come up with something you really like, and would
enjoy sharing.
JUST
FOR FUN:
A couple of
websites commenting on Ahlgren:
www.weekendsherpa.com. Search Ahlgren, and you will get Wizard of Ahhs!
2) At
www.yelp.com, search Ahlgren Vineyard near Boulder Creek. The map is
useless, but the comments by Rod are very nice and he gives us a 5 star
rating!
REGARDING OUT OF STATE SHIPPING:
We have made
great headway, and now have permits to ship to a growing number of
states. The shipping situation changes almost daily, so if you have
friends or family who would enjoy the delights and benefits of becoming
an Ahlgren Wine Club member, have them give us a call to discuss the
possibilities of shipping to them.
ORDERING AHLGREN WINES:
As a Wine Club
Member, your credit card information is on file here, so you can simply
fax or email us your orders, or just give us a call. No need to worry
about online security. We always enjoy talking with you. Just let us
know what you want shipped. We can run the charge using your credit card
number on file here, and the wine will be on its way.
Or, to
fax an order, you can use the enclosed order form, or download the order
form from the web site, fill it in, and fax it on to us.
Tell a
friend! They can download the order form and/or the Wine Club
Application
directly from the web page, or they can give us a call.
To contact us
directly:
Long distance:
1-800-338-6071; fax 1-831-338-9111.
Local phone:
831-338-6071; email ahlgren@ahlgrenvineyard.com.
Unless
excessively hot or cold weather indicates otherwise, we ship at the
beginning of each week so that wines reach you before the weekend.
PICK
UP AND DELIVERY:
Some members,
for whom it is convenient, choose to pick up their Wine Club wines at
the winery on a Saturday afternoon during our tasting hours. This makes
for an opportunity to avoid shipping charges, to taste, talk, and enjoy
the always gorgeous views. Due to very limited storage space here at the
winery, if wine is not picked up before the next shipment is ready, we
will ship the previous box on to you. We will give you a call before
doing so, however. But please pick up promptly to avoid the cost of
shipping.
GIFT
SHOPPING:
Don’t forget
how easy and convenient it is to send wine for the holidays or special
occasions! We are finding a number of folks are selecting Ahlgren wines
as business and wedding gifts.
It may
seem hard to think of gifts or ways to say thank you these days when so
many of us have more than we need of everything, but Ahlgren wines never
fail to delight, and are appropriate for almost any occasion. Also, we
have gift certificates available in any amount. Give us a call for the
most convenient of gift shopping: 800-338-6071or 831-338-6071.
TASTINGS AND SALES: SATURDAYS 12-4 AT THE WINERY:
It
is great time to visit, pick up your Wine Club packages, and taste some
current releases.
That's all for
now. We look forward to seeing you.
SALUD! CHEERS!
À VOTRE SANTÈ! PAX!
Dexter and Val
GOVERNMENT WARNING:
(1) ACCORDING TO THE SURGEON GENERAL, WOMEN SHOULD NOT DRINK ALCOHOLIC
BEVERAGES DURING PREGNANCY BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF BIRTH DEFECTS. (2)
CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES IMPAIRS YOUR ABILITY TO DRIVE A CAR
OR OPERATE MACHINERY, AND MAY CAUSE HEALTH PROBLEMS."
